835 Two Worlds

"Immortal Cultivator?"

Xiao Mang looked up, eyes teary.

'Immortal Cultivator' was the most prestigious title for the Chinese people. They had gone against all odds and survived in the frozen north solely thanks to generations of cultivators, fighting against countless alien races and the Northern Sea Water Fey.

Xiao Fan reckoned that Chen Fan was a cultivator when he saved her from the attack of the Water Fey. He had killed a demon beast with the flick of a finger, instantly captivating Xiao Fan's heart.

"But, the elders from the ancestral temple confirmed that I wouldn't be able to become a cultivator. "

Xiao Mang lowered her head and whimpered.

"They are wrong. Xiao Mang is going to be a powerful cultivator in the world, how could she lack any talent? Try the basic art of the Foundation Establishment now and I will show you."

Chen Fan cracked a smile.

He padded Xiao Mang's head, running his finger through her hair and gently tapping her skull.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of muted vibrations rippled from under Chen Fan's finger tip as he severed the shackles over Xiao Man's capability, unlocking her true potential.

One tap, two tap, three…

The first couple of finger taps were easy, but they were getting increasingly heavier. Chen Fan didn't mind the difficulties and doubled down as he used the art. A flash of light flickered in his eyes, as the five Essence Core trembled slightly.

"Patter, patter."

Once Chen Fan removed all the shackles, a shapeless dragon shadow emerged from Xiao Mang's body and flew into the sky, droning joyfully.

Meanwhile, Xiao Mang was completely unaware of this. She sat still on the ground, feeling foggy in the head as she carried out the Foundation Establishment Art. It was a simple art that was practiced by nearly every Chinese person. Nonetheless, this art was able to bring out the "Feel For Qi" if the cultivator was truly talented.

Xiao Mang had practiced it for over a decade and never had she experienced any Qi fluctuations.

However, she felt something different this time.

She felt a hint of True Qi pulsing in his meridians as soon as she started the art. As she went on, the True Qi circulated her body as it multiplied. After once circulation, the True Qi had grown to the thickness of a thumb.

"This is?"

Xiao Mang was shocked.

Her eyes were as round as saucers in disbelief. "Have I really created True Qi? Am I really worthy of Immortal Cultivation?"

Despite her disbelief, the True Qi inside of her body reminded her that it was real. She clenched her fingers, letting the True Qi flow into her fist. She felt so great that she thought she could punch through a rock.

"Thank you! This is amazing! I can finally be like you and Lord Xiao Mang. Fear me, Demons! I HAVE THE POWER!"

She froliced about in the room, punching air as if attacking her enemies. Afterwards, she rushed to Chen Fan, buried her head in his chest and then kissed his cheek.

"I am going to tell Auntie Liu about it!"

Xiao Mang stormed outside and cheerful voices quickly drifted into the room.

Chen Fan cracked a smile.

Although he had yet to come up with a method to completely dispel the Bloodline curse on the Chinese, he could remove the curse on Xiao Fan with ease.

"She truly is a True Dragon and will surely achieve the Nascent Soul realm in a hundred years. Let her be my gift to my fellow Chinese brethren."

A light flickered in Chen Fan's eyes as he thought to himself.

Xiao Mang had what it took to be an Immortal Cultivator!

The news shook the Ancestral Temple. The Ancestral Temple guarded all the Divine spells and arts, therefore, any aspiring cultivator would eventually have to contact them.

In the beginning, the elders of the Ancestral Temple thought that they had missed Xiao Mang's talent because of its insignificance.

However, they were stunned after seeing how Xiao Mang had entered the early-stage of Foundation Establishment in three days. It took her half a month to proceed to the mid-stage and reached the peak in less than a month.

Her unshackled abilities and the True Dragon's Divine Meridian took everyone by surprise. So talented she was that even Gu Lingzi and Lin Wuhua had paled in comparison with her.

"She's a gift from God to all the Chinese people."

The elders broke down in tears.

The knights from the Ancestral Temple took Xiao Mang into the temple to undergo a more intense training. She could go home only once in a while and was taught by all the elders in the temple. They gave her the best arts they knew and fed her the most precious spirit fruits and Treasure Medicines.

It wasn't long before Xiao Mang caught the attention of the Chinese elites.

"My lord, Xiao Mang has been gone for many days, the house feels empty without her. Thank the gods that she'll be back today," Old Ding said as he pruned the branches in the garden.

"Hm."

Chen Fan nodded.

He was absorbing the dimension force in the Void Space to strengthen his Essence Core. This was a very slow method to refine his Essence Core; it would take him at least ten years to achieve Divine Essence at this rate.

Chen Fan had covered the entire city under his Divine Sense and therefore he could monitor the girl's presence inside the Ancestral Temple. However, having seen her in person for so long had made Chen Fan miss her.

"Interesting. I couldn't find any records about the Bloodline curse, neither could I get any information on Heaven's Equal. How could that be? I am sure they are the descendants of cultivators on Earth since their arts were heavily influenced by the Mixed-Essence Sect and the Yuntian Palace. "

Chen Fan was perplexed.

None of the Chinese people he knew had reached the Golden Core realm. Even the elders were at the Connate Spirit level. Qin Luo, the most powerful Chinese cultivator, had only reached the peak of the Connate Level. Therefore, Chen Fan's Divine Will remained undetected.

Chen Fan had combed through the Library in the Ancestral Temple, save a few locked rooms that had been sealed by a special Dharma Array; however, he couldn't find a single passage that mentioned Earth.

"Maybe I should go visit those secret rooms in person. "

Chen Fan rubbed his chin.

The doorbell rang and Old Ding hurried to the entrance. He had expected to see Xiao Mang, but it was a handsome young man wearing dark glacial armor covered under a crimson cape. The young man pushed Old Ding to the side and sauntered in.

"Sir, this is a private…"

Old Ding tried to stop him, but he heard Chen Fan's voice.

"Let them in."

Trailing behind the young man was a group of Chinese knights. They entered the courtyard and stood in a row with an intimidating stance. All of them were at the Ethereal Enlightenment level.

Chen Fan sat in the chair and asked calmly, "You must be the Black Armor Legion. Are you their leader, Qin Luo?"

The man in the black armor was the most powerful Chinese fighter: Qin Luo.

"Impudent! No one speaks like that to my lord. Kneel!" A knight stepped forward and fumed. Those warriors saw Qin Luo as their god.

Qin Luo didn't seem to mind. He said, "You are Chen Fan. We don't know where you're from exactly but you told people that you come from the Sui state.

"You're from a merchant family from Old China Town. Your business is based in the Sui State, but you returned home after your parents died. Since then, you have paid more attention to history than business. Then you worked at the Taishi Pavilion with your servant who is an expert in medicine and elixirs. Your servant is a cultivator and so are you. You have reached at least the Ethereal Enlightenment level, otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to kill the seventeen Foundation Establishment level Water Feys and save our goddess. Am I right?"

Chen Fan had been in the Old China Town for three months, and Qin Luo had already learned almost everything about him.

Old Ding's face darkened and felt naked before the stranger.

"You are too secretive and your actions too clandestine for a normal businessman.

"But you know what? I don't care. I don't care who you are, where you came from, and neither do I care about the method you used to unlock our Goddess's talent. After All, nearly all Chinese cultivators had their own way of removing the shackles. I am here only to tell you one thing."

Qin Luo rose to his feet and fixed his gaze onto Chen Fan.

"Xiao Mang is the most precious asset for the Chinese. She is our only chance to regain our glory. I will not allow anyone to drag her down. If you do that, I will kill you."

Clang.

Qin Luo suddenly unsheathed his blade. Cold lights ran down from its icy edge, filling the air with a deadly force.

Chen Fan's smile remained on his face.

Old Ding couldn't gather himself until Qin Luo was gone with his intimidating guards. He ranted, "My Lord, what does he mean?"

"He gave me a warning." Chen Fan cracked a smile. "I wager that there are people in the Ancestral Temple who disapprove of my connection with Xiao Mang."

For the elders in the Ancestral Temple, Xiao Mang was the future of the Chinese, the shining star. Meanwhile, Chen Fan was a secretive stranger. They couldn't afford to let anything happen to Xiao Mang, and had to nip the potential harm in the bud.

Chen Fan was right.

That afternoon, Xiao Mang and Chen Fan had been informed that she would have to stay in the Ancestral Temple for a while until she reached the Ethereal Enlightenment realm. Old Ding was disheartened by the news and suddenly lost interest in tending to the flowers in the garden.

Chen Fan remained silent.

He had planned to leave Xiao Mang's cultivation to her own people, therefore he had refrained from teaching Xiao Mang any Immortal Cultivation arts. However, the thought of being unable to see the girl for a while brought a knot onto his brow.

One week, two, three…

Xiao Mang was still nowhere to be seen. Messages from the Ancestral Temple also stopped coming. It was as if she had suddenly disappeared from Chen Fan's life.

Meanwhile, Old Ding noticed many times that Chen Fan would suddenly disappear from the house and reappeared a few days later.

He didn't know what Chen Fan was up to, but he had caught a glimpse of Chen Fan's charred clothes and scars on his face.

Although Chen Fan was in bad shape physically everytime he returned, his power seemed to have improved significantly. By then, any Nascent Soul cultivator would have been able to notice how the five divine chains wrapped around his Essence Core were becoming incredibly tight as his Essence Core grew in power.

Three months later.

Chen Fan had just returned to the residence and removed his shirt when a girl in purple outfit suddenly stormed into the courtyard.

"Brother."